So, I've made my speer hammock, 8x10 tarp (gonna make a bigger one soon), and my hammock sock. I've taken them on 2 trips to date, and had great success with the system down to 26°. I consider myself a fully converted hanger at this point.

Now, I've decided the time has come to try out the bridge hammock to see if I prefer it to the speer style. Plus, I also have a dad that if he could lay flat, could probably be converted to see the light.

I've read through Griz's Article on making a bridge hammock and have found it extremely informative. I am pretty sure I have the basic's down, but I do have a couple of questions that I'd like some clarity on.

First is compression. I'm a pretty heavy fella, so I'm trying to understand this to avoid disaster (trying to go down, but around 275 right now). The formula noted states that an alpha of 45° results a multiple of 1 x body weight. Is this technically divided by 2 because there are actually 2 spreader bar's being used over the length of the hammock, or is that already figured into the equasion? I suspose given that a second spreader bar would create additional pressure that didn't exist before, but it should relieve some of the pressure from the first bar as the hammock side alpha would be very close to 90°.

Second is the use of a catanary curve in place of the parabolic curve for the suspension. I ask because in terms of simplicity, it's easier for me to mark and cut a cat curve vs taking the time to draw up the parabolic curve. I'm not opposed to the work, I just want to validate that I am in fact gaining something for the extra effort.


I'm sure I'll have more come up, but that's my start. Thanks in advance for any help/advice.